Moving stairway step



J. DUNLOP Aug, 6, 194;

MOVING STAIRWAY STEP Filed Oct. 12, 1938 INVENTOR fim'as 2027/5 PatentedAug. 6, 1940 MOVING STAIRWAY STEP James Dunlop, Ridgewood, N. J.,assignor to Westinghouse Electric Elevator Company, Jersey City, N. 3.,a corporation of Illinois Application October 12, 1938, Serial No.234,629

4 Claims. (Cl; 19Sl6) My invention relates to moving stairways and moreparticularly to the steps embodied in such stairways.

In many moving stairways the steps are provided with cleat-like treadswhich pass under suitable comb plates at the lower and at the upperlandings of the stairways. By reason of the rise of the steps as theymove from the lower landing up to and pass under the upper landing andthe close position of the front end of the tread at each step with theriser of the step in front of it, the front ends of the cleats areusually beveled to allow them to clear each other in order to preventwedging of the steps as they level ofi at the landings, and even whilethey are running from one floor level to another. Hence, as the stepsapproach the top of the stairway and begin to level off, the beveledends of the cleats and the next step ahead form a V-shaped space. As thesteps become level with each other, the space between the ends of thecleats on one step and the adjacent ends of the cleats on the next stepis at its widest point.

The prime object of the invention is to provide for closing or nearlyclosing the V-shaped space between the ends of the cleats on one stepand the adjoining ends of the cleats on the next step ahead to make thecleats as nearly continuous as possible while they level ofi to passunder the comb plates, in order to provide for safer operation of thesteps by preventing anything from being caught'between the ends of thecleats and the comb plate fingers.

Another object is to prevent the injury of any person falling down onthe steps of the moving stairway and hitting hard metal or molded cleatswith which such stairways are usually provided.

' A further object is to prevent any slipping or skidding of the feet ofthe passengers upon the edges of the steps of the stairways and therebyreduce the number of accidents due to falling or being thrownwhile onthe steps.

Another object is to provide for making the line of demarkation betweenthe steps more visible and thereby assist the passengers indistinguishing one step from another when stepping on or oil, so thatthey will step on only one step instead of across two steps, assometimes happens with the older forms of stairways.

It is also an object of the invention to'lessen the danger to childrenwhen they fall on moving stairways and get their fingers or hands inposition to be caught between the cleats on the steps.

For a better understanding of the invention,

of adjacent steps, embodying the invention, dis- 1 posed in position topass under one of the comb plates of the stairway.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of portions of severalmoving-stairway steps illustrating the relative position of the cleattread of one step with the riser of the next step ahead when the stepsare near and an upper landing, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view taken along the line IIIIII of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, I have illustrated a portionof a moving stairway comprising an endless series or movable steps Inwhich are moved along their tracks (not shown) in accordance with thespeed at which the stairway is to be operated. Each of these steps Icomprises a step tread ll disposed upon a frame comprising a pair ofcross bars or joists l2 and it supported by suitable riser yokes 14. Thelower end of the yoke It rests upon and is secured to the rear end of anend bar i5, the upper or front end of which is secured to a flangedportion it of the cross bar [3. The front part of the step, includingthe flange I6 is supported upon front wheels 58 rotatably mounted uponan axle H3 and secured in position thereon by a cotter pin 20. The axlel9 passes through and is supported by the front ends of the bars 15. Therear portion of the step is supported upon trailer wheels 22 that aremounted upon stub axles 23 mounted in the rear ends of the bars l5.Cotter pins 24 secure the wheels upon the axles 23. A riser apron 25 issecured between the cross bar l2 and the rear ends of the end bars I5.

Inasmuch as moving stairways are well known, a further detail ofdescription of their operating parts will be omitted. However, ifinformation as to further details is desired, it may be secured fromPatents No. 2,023,067 issued December 3, 1935, and No. 2,085,076 issuedJune 29, 1937, upon applications filed by me and assigned to theWestinghouse Electric Elevator Company.

The tread of each stairway step is provided with a plurality of cleats21 running along the top of the tread approximately in line with thedirection of travel of the steps. The cleats may be constructed of anysuitable non-resilient material such as iron or may be molded fromsuitable non-resilient material such as fibre impregnated with a binderand molded under heat I al and pressure to become a solid supportingstructure for the feet of the passengers using the stairway.

The grooves between the cleats should be narrow enough to prevent theheels of the passengers shoes from entering them and the cleatsthemselves should be so arranged that they will readily pass between theteeth 28 of any suitable comb plates 29 which may be embodied in thestairway at the landings (not shown) In constructing moving stairways,it has always been diflicult to prevent the appearance of a space oropening between the adjacent ends of the cleats of adjoining steps asthe steps level off to go under the comb plate at the lower landing orat the upper landing because, if the ends of the cleats are made squareand spaced too close together, they are liable to hit each other whenthey level off or to bump into the riser of the next step when they aremoving along the rising portion of the stairway. If this tendency to hitand knock is cured by beveling the' ends of the cleats, then they form aV-shaped opening or space as the stepslevel off to pass under the combplates.

My invention overcomes these difiiculties by providing a cleat-end 3i ofresilient material for the rear end of each cleat on each step. Eachcleat-end 3c is constructed of a soft resilient material such as rubberor imitation rubber that is vulcanized upon a strip 3| of metal such asbrass bent to fit over a cut-away portion 32 of the rear end of thecleat to which it is to be attached. Furthermore, the resilientcleat-end should not be beveled like the old cleats, but should berather full in form. Each cleat end is provided with a screw hole 33through which a screw 34 may be inserted into the cleat to which it isto be attached to hold the cleat-end in operative position,

In the preferred form of the invention the cut-away portion of the cleatis made in steplike formation so that the upper-surface of the cleat-endprovides a short end portion of the tread surface of the complete cleaton the step and the left hand end 36 of the cleat-end constitutes abumper and space filler onthe rear end of the cleat to cooperate withthe beveled front end 3'! of the associated cleat on the next followingstep for safe operation of the stairway. A soft resilient plug 38 isinserted in the hole in the face 35 of the cleat-end to protect thescrew and provide an even surface on the face of the cleat-end. It willbe obvious that the shape of the cut-away portion 32 of the cleat 27 maybe of any desired form suitable to hold the cleat end in position andcause it to act not only as a bumper but as a soft resilient end tread.

Inasmuch as the rear end of each cleat on each step is provided with thesoft resilient cleat end, it, will be obvious that the rear edge of eachstep will provide, in effect, a soft resilient edge or series of cleatends that will lessen the clanger to any person falling upon the steepmoving stairway steps and striking against the edges thereof, becausethe soft resilient cleat-ends will prevent injury, whereas the hardnon-resilient ends of the cleats heretofore employed very often causedserious damage.

It will also be obvious that where the steps level off to pass under thecomb plates the soft rounded ends of the cleat ends 30 will practicallyfill the V-shaped space heretofore present between the cooperating endsof the adjacent step cleats, thus providing practically continuous cleatlines or ridges for the feet of the passengers and also preventinganything from being caught in the V-shaped openings and carried therebyin under the comb plate with resulting damage.

It also will be obvious that the line of soft resilient cleat ends "willact as a distinguishing marl: between the steps when they are in motionand thus provide an indicating means which will cause the passengers tostep upon one step instead of placing their feet across two steps, thusreducing the tendency to accidents caused by people unwittingly steppingupon more than one step as the steps change their position relative toeach other in making their circuit.

Although I have illustrated and described only one embodiment of myinvention, it will be apparent that changes therein and modificationsthereof may be made without departing from its spirit and scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a moving stairway extending from a 1 lower landing to an upperlanding, a plurality of steps provided with substantially non-resilienttreads and having resilient rear edges to prevent accidents andapproximately fill in the spaces between the step treads as they levelfor the landings.

A moving stairway comprising a comb plate, a plurality of steps, and aplurality of tread cleats for each step disposed to pass between heteeth of the comb plate as the steps are operated, each cleat having aresilient end portion disposed at the rear end of its step and anonresilient portion extending from said resilient portion to the frontend of its step and each resilient end portion being sufficiently largeto approximately close the space between the cleat of which it is a partand the adjoining cleat-on the step nearest that resilient end member.

3. A moving stairway having a plurality of steps disposed to be operatedbetween an upper landing and a lower landing, a plurality of cleats ofnon-resilient material disposed on the tread of each step, and a rubberend member mounted on the rear end of each cleat to close the spacebetween that cleat and the adjoining cleat on the next adjacent step asthey level for a landmg.

4. A moving stairway having a plurality of steps disposed to be operatedbetween an upper landing and a lower landing, a plurality of cleats ofnon-resilient material disposed on the tread of each step in position topass between the teeth of a comb plate at each landing, a cleat-end ofresilient material for each cleat, and means for securing the cleat-endfor each cleat to the rear end thereof to cause them to fillapproximately the space between the ends of the cleats on adjacent stepsas they level at the landings.

JAMES DUNLOP.

